Beauty Around The World – Part 4

The fourth in our series of what women around the world will do in their quest for beauty and eternal youth.

Beauty regimes, whether waxing stubborn hair from sensitive body parts and injecting fat into facial creases to eating animal entrails and smearing bird droppings onto blemished skin are performed with a variety of beautifying and bizarre methods across the four corners of the world- Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.

Snakes, Snails, and Swollen Calves … in the Americas.

Forget the French pedicure- instead, save $300 for a snake skin pedicure offered in Monterey, CA and Midtown East, New York City. Discovered by Terri Silacci, an educator on Bio Sculpture Gel, snakeskin pedicures are available in faux and real snakeskin. Sanitized sheets of snakeskin are fitted to individual nails and then topped with a coat of no-chip gel for adhesive and protective qualities. A clear gel with UV filters coats the snail-skin adhesives into place. The treatment time averages two or more hours for a lasting eight weeks of scaly tips and toenails!

Constantly searching for the next best hand cream? Look no further than Chile where well-moisturized hands were found on the hands of Chilean handlers on a snail farm. The verdict? Chilean snail secretions. Believed to provide protection against pollution and ultraviolet radiation, snail secretions help regenerate and repair skin. Antioxidant-loading properties known to smooth lines, banish blemishes, and assist in scarring can be found in the formula. Seek out Arenscaracol and BioSkinscream skin-care line for your nearest slathering of snail serum.

Dread the word cankles- an ill-devised term to mean a lack of thinning between the calf and ankle? South America, the Wauwai people of Guyana practice a form of “body swelling” to temporarily expand calves for a desirable leg shape. The rounder a calf, the more highly desirable the calf appears. The Wauwai bind young girls’ legs below the knee, creating a swelled calf and tantalizing limbs aesthetically pleasing to men. Using tightly-coiled gold and silver wire similar to the coiled necklaces worn by the Karenni, bracelets around their arms and legs so tightly that the flesh swells around the coils, thus producing a round affect. Slim calves are out!

Farther South, across the international border dividing United States and Mexico, you will find another treatment: the Hakali Body Massage and Punta Mita Margarita, at Mexico’s Four Seasons Resort. Guests enjoy a body massage alongside a bit of tequila. As your body is massaged with cactus (nopal) paddies, a scrub made from tequila, salt, and fresh lime juice provide an exfoliating rub-down. The healing and detoxifying properties linked to nopal and tequila as well as minerals of sea salt and lime as conditioning astringents, your thirsty body will drink the margarita for a well-deserved day at the spa bar.

Editor’s Note: If you can’t afford the time or the cash to get to The Four Seasons Punta Mita, try our Lost Girls version

Margarita Salt Scrub

1/3 cup coconut oil

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. tequila

2 cups Epsom salts

Combine the coconut oil (sold where olive and vegetable oils are sold in the supermarket. It comes in a jar in solid form), zest and juice of the lime. Microwave for about 20 seconds until the coconut oil melts somewhat. Add the tequila and mix it all together. Add the salt and mix to combine. Slather, rub, rinse and glow!

Have this be the last thing you do in the shower so the softness stays with you all day.

Meet the Lost Girls!

We're three New Yorkers who ditched our media jobs to embark on a yearlong, round-the-world journey in search of adventure and inspiration. To find out what prompted us to leave everything familiar behind, click here